Ship of Secrets by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page B

across the crowded arcade. “We’ve been looking all over for you. This place is packed.”
    “Just . . . one . . . more!” Joe said. The timer ticked down. He tossed the last egg into the nest.It went through, and the machine spit out ten more tickets.

    “We’re only forty tickets away from the grand prize, Mom,” Frank said. He pointed to the wall across the arcade. There were stuffed toys of all shapes and sizes—bears, parrots, and even a giant banana. But Frank and Joe had their eye on the prizes on the very top shelf. There, above everything else, was a Soaker Shooter. It was one of the biggest water guns they’d ever seen.
    “Seems like a scary game!” Mr. Hardy patted the giant dinosaur on the head. The T. rex was nearly as tall as he was, with scaly skin that looked real. The dinosaur showed them his shiny, plastic teeth.
    “It’s time for dinner, boys,” Mrs. Hardy said. “You can win the rest of your tickets later. Promise.” She waved them past a row of pinball machines, a photo booth, and a game where you hit gophers on the head with a hammer.
    “Look what else we got.” Joe held up a drawing of him and Frank together. It was drawn with thick black marker. They had huge heads and tiny bodies. They were each holding a magnifying glass, just like Sherlock Holmes would.
    “Well, look at that!” Mr. Hardy laughed. “That’s a nice picture of you two.”
    “He even drew a case file for us,” Frank added, pointing to a folder he was holding in the picture. “Just like the kind you carry.” They’d found the man on the main deck that day drawing pictures for anyone who wanted one. People would sit in a chair for a few minutes, and he’d look at them, then ask what they liked to do for fun. Sometimes he drew kids riding bicycles or playing soccer. Frank and Joe had told him how much they liked solving mysteries, so he’d drawn them like Sherlock Holmes. He called the pictures caricatures.
    As they walked toward the main ballroom, they could hear the music starting. Inside there were hundreds of tables, all in front of a big stage. Most people were wearing nice dresses or button-down shirts. Some stood in line for food, while others ate dinner as they watched the show. Onstage a few dancers in red sequined gowns spun around in circles. A band played a loud song. The trumpets blasted out a few notes.
    “What was your favorite part of today?” Mrs. Hardy asked as they sat down at their table. The plates were heaped with salad and breadsticks. Across from them was another family, with red-haired triplets who were about five. One of the girls was throwing crackers at her sister.
    “The pyramid pool,” Frank said. “No, no—I liked the game room the best. That dinosaur game is my favorite.”
    “What about the magic show? I loved howthe magician made all those cards disappear. I still don’t know where they went!” Joe couldn’t stop thinking about it. One minute there was a whole deck of cards, and the next minute they were gone.
    Frank was going to mention the flamingo park on the top deck, or the clown who walked around the restaurant on stilts, but then the lights in the ballroom went down. A man in a tuxedo walked onto the stage just as the band finished their song. He had thick black hair and a mustache that curled up at the ends. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ship of Wonders !” He waited until the crowd stopped clapping. “I’m Ricardo Ramboni, and I’ll be your host for the next week, introducing some of the best musical acts you’ve ever seen. Tonight our first performers will be—”
    There was a shriek somewhere in the crowd. Ricardo stopped talking. Every head in the roomturned toward one of the front tables. “I don’t believe this! No!” the woman cried. She pushed her chair back and lifted up the tablecloth.
    “What’s going on?” Frank whispered. “Who is that?”
    Ricardo was still standing on the stage, frozen. He waved his hands, and